Detachable truck unloader



July 27, 1943. w. L. ERICKSON DETACHABLE TRUCK UNLOADER Filed Oct. 24,1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented July 27, 1943' UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE DETACHABLE TRUCK UNLOADER Wilmar L. Erickson, Robbinsdale, Minn.Application October 24, 1942, Serial N0. 483,190

4 Claims.

My present invention relates to truck unloading and loading devices ofthe type adapted to be attached tovmotor-dri ven trucks and to be drivenfrom the truck engine. In a general way, the invention relates tounloading devices of the type disclosed and claimed in my pendingapplication entitled Detachable truck unloader," filed November 10,1941, under Serial No. 418,484 and now U. S. Patent No. 2,304,249,issued 01 date December 8', 1942.

A commercial form of the present improved device is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings wherein like characters indicate like partsthroughout the several views.

Referring to these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation showing a truck with my inventionapplied thereto, some parts being broken away and some parts being shownin vertical longitudinal section;

Fig. 2 is a view looking at the rear end of the truck and some partsbeing sectioned on the line 22 of Fig. 1, upper portions of the truckbody being broken away and some of the under structure of the truckbeing omitted;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1, someparts being broken away;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on'the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a detail in plan showing parts found just below the linemarked 5-5 on Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a section taken approximately on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Of the parts of the truck, which is or may be of any suitableconstruction, the numeral N) indicates the framework of the chassis, thenumeral H the cab, the numeral I2 the rear or traction wheels, thenumeral l3 the transmission gear box, and the numeral l4 the customarytransmission and shaft which conveys power from the truck engine to therear wheels l2 through the customary or any suitable connectionsincluding the usual differential gear mechanism, not shown.

The numeral l5 indicates the dumping body of the truck which, at itsrear end, has heavy hinge lugs l6 pivoted to the rear of the truck frameID at H and capable of movements from the normal dotted line positionshown by full lines into the tilted or dumping position shown by dottedlines. The dumping and return movements of the truck body are shown asarranged to be power operated from a cylinder and piston air motor is ofthe usual arrangement, interposed between, an anchoring beam l9 and abeam 20. The anchoring beam l3 extends transversely of and is rigidlysecured to the truck frame ll while the beam 23 is secured to the bottomof the dumping body l5.

The transmission shaft l4, by a universal joint 2|, is connected to theprimary power shaft 22 which, as is customary in standard motorstructures, is driven from well-known variable speed reversible gearmechanism contained within the transmission casing 23.

In standard auto truck structures it is customary to provide a powertake-off shaft for various purposes such as for conveying power tomechanism for operating the dumping platform or body of a truck equippedwith such dumping platform or body. In the present case the primarypower take-off shaft is indicated by the numeral 24. This power take-offshaft 24, in the present instance, extends from a gear box 25 secured onand projecting from the side of the transmisison casing 23 and throughgear mechanism, not shown, but of the well-known arrangement containedwithin said box 25 is driven from the gears of the variable speedtransmission mechanism contained within said transmission casing. As anovel feature in the present arrangement, this power take-off shaft 24is used not only to transmit power to the dump controlling mechanism,but through novel mechanism is used to transmit power to the unloadingattachment of the device. In carrying out this scheme a gear box orhousing 26 is rigidly secured to transverse metal beams 21 and 28 of thegear frame Ill, see particularly Fig. 5. As best shown in Fig. 6, thisprimary power take-off shaft 24 is extended into the gear box 28 and isextended axially into the hub 29 of the second section 30 of the primarypower take-off shaft. Within the box 26 the hub 29 is formed with aninternally toothed clutch member 3| that is adapted to be engaged anddisengaged by a gearlike clutch member 32 that is keyed to slide on butto rotate with the take-off shaft 24.

Clutch member 32 has a grooved hub that is engaged by the shipper forkor arm 33 of a shipper rod 34 that is mounted to slide in suitablebearings afforded by the box 26. Shipper rod 34 may be operated endwiseby any suitable means but, as shown, is connected to a shifter lever 35located within the cab H. Shaft 30 is connected by a jointedtransmission shaft 36 that operates the customary pump, not shown, butlocated within a gear box 31 secured on top of the beam l9 which latter,it will be noted, is pivoted to the longitudinal side beams of the truckframe Ill. The construction and operation of the power mechanism forproducing the tilting and return movements of the dumping platformgorbody I! is assumed to be of wellknown s cture and not necessary to herefurther discuss.

In this improvedarrangement for operating the loading and unloadingmechanism hereinafter to be described, there is provided a secondarypower take-oi! shaft 88, see particularly Figs. 1 and 6, that isjournaled in and extends rearward from the secondary .gear box 28.Secured on the inner end of secondary power take-off shaft 38 is a spupinion 38 and a relatively large spur gear 40.

Mounted to slide upon but to rotate with the primary take-off shaft 24is a spur gear 4|. Journaled in the box 26 and meshing with the pinion39 is an idle spur pinion or small gear 42. By sliding movements gear 4ican be engaged, at will, either with the gear 40 or with theintermediate pinion 42, thereby affording means for reversely drivingthe secondary power shaft 38 without changing the direction of rotationof the primary take-oi! shaft 24. The gears 32 and 4| now described arecaused to rotate with shaft 24 but free to slide thereon by means of along key-way 43.- Shiftable gear 4| is a grooved hub 44 engaged by ashipper fork 45 carried by a shipper rod 48 that may be operated in anysuitable way but, as shown, is connected to a lever 41 located in thecab Ii.

Rigidly secured to the rear of the truck frame ill, by machine screws,welding or other suitable means, is a substantially U-shaped hollow gearhousing 48, see particularly Fig. 3. This element 48 is preferably acast iron structure formed with laterally spaced forwardly projectingarms or portions 49 and 50. Journalled in the left hand arm 49 is ashaft BI and journalled in the right hand arm 50 is a shaft 52. Theseshafts ii and 52 are parallel and at their front ends terminate,respectively, in angular coupling shanks 53 and 54, respectively. Asprocket chain 55 is encased within the transverse portion of thehousing 48 and runs over sprocket wheels 56 and 51, respectively, on theshafts 5i and 52. Journalled in the right hand arm 50 of frame fit is ashort transverse shaft 58, the inwardly projecting end of whichterminates in a squared or angular shank or end b9. see Fig. 4. Shaft 52carries a spiral gear 60 that meshes with a spiral gear ti on shortcountershaft 58.

Shaft E! has a forwardly projecting end which, by a universal joint 62,see Fig. 3, is connected to the rear end of a shaft 63, the front end ofwhich later, by universal joint 6 3, is connected to the rearwardlyprojecting end of secondary power take-ofi shaft 38, see Fig. 1.

In the preferred form of this improved device I employ three channeliron or channelshaped coupling brackets he formed in their upper flangeswith lock pin holes 6% and in their lower flanges with lock pinreceiving notches ti, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 4. One of thesecoupling brackets 55- is rigidly secured by machine screws at to theinner wall of the gear box arm or extension 5%, with the angular shank5d of short transverse shaft 58 projecting through the central portionthereof; another of said coupling brackets is likewise rigidly securedto the rear wall of the gear box extension or arm 5b with the shank 54of shaft 52 projecting through the central portion thereof; and thethird of said brackets 65 is likewise rigidly secured to the rear endwall of the gear box extension 49 with the shank B8 of shaft llprojecting through the central portion thereof.

A conveyor frame 89, preferably an elongated channel-shaped structure,is, at its receiving end, provided witha driving roller 10, seeparticularly Fig. 4, and at its extended end is provided with a roller'55. An endless conveyor belt H' runs over the rollers I0 and 10.Driving roller I0 is secured to a shaft 82 iournalled in the sides offrame 69 and is provided at its projecting ends with angular shanks l3and I4.

Pivotally secured to both the right and left hand sides of the receivingend of conveyor frame 69 are channel-shaped coupling brackets I! throughthe central portions of which the angular shanks l3 and 14 project. Theupper flanges of the coupling brackets 15 are provided with couplingpins 16 and the lower prongs of said coupling brackets are provided withcoupling pins TI. The coupling pins 18 and 11 are engageable,respectively, with the holes 86 and notches B1 of coupling brackets 65.

As an intermediate coupling device to be used as hereinafter described,I employ a pair of coupling sockets I8 connected by universal joint 19,best shown in Fig. 4.

The pivotal connection between the coupling brackets I5 and the sides ofthe carrier frame 89 is preferably made as follows: The said brackets.by means of machine screws 80, are

I connected to discs 8| through the axis'of which project the angularends or shanks of roller shaft 12. The discs 8i are held against lateralmovement but free for oscillatory movements by means of keeper lugs 82secured to the sides of the frame 69.

In Fig. 2 the dumping body i5 is shown as provided at its rear end witha plurality of discharge openings equipped with gates 83.

Operation rial from the truck to a receivin Point at the rear of thetruck. In this po'sition the coupling pins it of the right hand couplingbracket 15 are engaged with the notch 66 in the coupling bracket t5 thatis directly connected to the inner side of the arm 50, and the pin 71 isdropped into the notch 6'8, as shown in Fig; 4; and the shaft 58 isconnected to the roller shaft 12 by applying the double-endedknuckle-jointed socket Ft-l9 to the angular ends or shanks of the shafts5t and 82. When the conveyor is thus connected it is capable ofconsiderable lateral swinging movement.

When the conveyor is to be applied for delivery of material from thetruck in a transverse direction toward the right, the coupling bracketi5, shown at the right in Fig. 4, is applied to the coupling bracket 65that is at the rear end of arm 59; but when the delivery is to be madetoward the left, the coupling bracket I5, shown at the left in Fig. 4,will be applied to the coupling bracket 65 that is at the rear end ofarm is. It will now clearly appear that the endless conveyor belt H canbe driven, at will, in the one direction for delivery of material fromthe truck and in the opposite direction for carrying material to thetruck, simply by sliding adjustments of the gear ti, see Fig. 6, intoengagement with the gear it or into engagement with the intemediate geart2. However, the conveyor is intended generally for use to delivermaterial from a truck. If used to carry material to the truck, then thetruck would usually have an open-ended box or similar carrying body.

Obviously, with this attachment the conveyor may be applied in variousdifferent ways for delivery of material rearward or sideways toward theright or toward the left.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated, but itwill be understood that various alterations may be made within the scopeof the claims hereunto appended.

What I claim is:

1. In a motor-propelled vehicle having variable speed reversiblewheel-connected transmission mechanism and a primary power take-oflshaft driven fromthe latter, said primary take-off shaft involvingfrontand rear sections and a clutch for connecting and disconnecting, atwill, the sections of said power take-01f shaft, of a secondary ppwertake-off shaft, reverse gear mechanism operative to connect saidsecondary power shaft to the front or first section of said primarypower take-off shaft, and a gear transmission box in which the ends ofthe secondary power take-off shaft and the ends of the sections of saidprimary power take-off shaft are journalled, and in which transmissionbox the said I clutch and reverse gears are located.

elements above noted, an approximately U- shaped hollow frame rigidlysecured to the rear of said truck frame and provided with laterallyspaced, forwardly projecting arms, parallel loader driving shaftsjournalled in said arms and provided in the transverse portion of saidU- shaped frame with sprockets, a sprocket chain a frame in a positionextended directly rearward running over said sprockets, the saidsecondary power take-off shaft being connected to one of the saidsprocket-equipped shafts, a conveyor frame equipped with a drivingroller, a driven roller and an endless conveyor belt, the shaft of saiddriven roller projecting at both ends, means for hanging said conveyoreither toward the right or toward the left, and means for coupling theshaft of said driving roller to one or the other of saidsprocket-equipped shafts according to the direction in which theconveyor is set.

3. The structure defined in claim 2 in further combination with a shorttransverse shaft journalled in one .of the arms of said U-shaped frameand gear-connected to the one adjacent sprocket shaft, and means forsupporting said conveyor from the truck and connecting the shaft of saiddriving roller to said transverse shaft.

4. In the motor-propelled vehicle having variable speed reversiblewheel-connected transmission mechanism and a primary power take-offshaft driven from the latter, said primary takeofi shaft involving frontand rear sections and a clutch for connecting and disconnecting, atwill, the sections of .said power take-off shaft, of a secondary powertake-oifshaft, gear mechanism operative to connect said secondary powershaft to the front or first section of said primary power take-offshaft, and in which the mechanism for driving said secondary powertake-off shaft includes a gear slidable on but rotatable with the firstsection of said primary take-off shaft, two axially spaced gears carriedby said secondary power take-off shaft, an intermediate gear meshingwith one of the gears of said secondary shaft,

the gear on the first section of said primary power take-off shaft beingslidably engageable,

at will, with the intermediate gear or, at will,

with the other gear on said secondary shaft.

WILMAR L. ERICKSON.

